Until There Was You
by Perhelediel
Summary: Tidus and Yuna meet outside the campfire in the Zanarkand Ruins. [TidusYuna] OneShot


All right, my first Final Fantasy X fiction! WARNING: Major Yuna/Tidus fluff, though nothing worth a stricter rating. Please don't judge too harshly.

Randomly came up with this very, very late at night. Doesn't have a plot, persay, but addresses some things the game does not. Plus, there's not enough romance in it to please me, darn it! Just one scene in the pond is not enough! –climbs off soapbox-

_Things in Italics are quotes from the game that add a little touch of emotion_.

This fic may contain PLOT SPOILERS. Read at your own risk. Takes place late in the game, in the Zanarkand Ruins, after the famous scene that plays after the menu screen, at the very beginning of the game, and in the normal plot. Again, only read if you're in the mood for fluff or are a general Yuna/Tidus lover like me. :-D

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**T**o any wanderer's eye, it would appear that the silent group of humans and Ronso alike were simply exhausted from the day's travels. All eyes were downcast, all faces somber. When there was movement, it ceased almost immediately, and the glow of their fire danced upon their skin.

A beautiful woman with raven hair. A strong-looking man tanned and with a jovial-looking face. A blonde teenage girl. An older man, hair streaked with silver, sunglasses partially obscuring a heavily-scarred face. A young, blue-furred warrior.

A young man, perhaps in his late teen years, was rocking back and forth slightly in his spot on the dust-covered ground. He seemed unable to keep still, as if something was bothering him, as if something wouldn't let him alone. He clutched his knees to his chest, his face pressed between his legs and only his eyes watching the fire.

Finally, Tidus stood up determinedly from his spot on the ground, and strode away from the group, his heavy boots churning up dust in the ruined plain.

He made decisive strides toward the horizon, but movement caught the corner of his eye. A breeze blew back the chestnut-colored hair from Yuna's fair-skinned face, and she turned mismatched eyes to glance at his progress. His expression softened, and he stooped slightly to put one gloved hand on her shoulder and squeeze it gently, and she tilted her head down until her cheek grazed the top of his hand. Her eyes opened a moment after his comforting touch had lifted away.

Tidus climbed steadily up the ruined highway up onto a high plateau, where he could see for miles on the flattened terrain. His eyes slowly swept the scene, the memory of his Zanarkand struggling to match up with the absolute devastation that lay about him.

_Listen to my story. This…may be our last chance._

A soft crunching made him turn. Yuna was trying her best to scale the cracked and sloped concrete. Tidus uttered a cry of surprise as he saw her boots slipping unsteadily along it, and with a few wide strides caught both her wrists in his hands to pull her upward. She grasped his forearms tightly as she found her footing, and his grip softened. Slowly he let go of her right wrist, and her fingers intertwined with his own as he led her toward the pinnacle of the hill.

Both were silent for a few moments, staring out across the ruined plains to the distant horizon.

"Is this…your Zanarkand?" Yuna asked quietly, turning to look at Tidus' solemn countenance.

His voice seemed to be caught in his throat as he tried to speak.

"It sure doesn't feel like it," he answered her, his voice at a low and somewhat emotionless register. It pained Yuna to see him like this, when usually he was so cheerful and optimistic.

"I mean, I recognize most of it. Like this highway," he began in a slightly more conversational way, grinding his foot against the cracked concrete. "I can still remember running along this when Sin attacked. And…and up there," he continued, pointing into the distance. "That ruined dome…"

His finger curled back into his fist and he faltered, dropping his arm limply back to his side.

"And now that we're here…it's going to…you're going to…" he stuttered.

Tidus swallowed hard and shook his head, his eyes shutting tightly.

_This is my story. It'll go the way I want it…or I'll end it here_.

Yuna touched her free hand to his forearm, feeling her heart beginning to beat rapidly as the enormity of her fate seemed to hit her full in the face.

She couldn't do it. Not when he was here, always by her side.

_I need you…no one else!_

_I don't…have much time left._

He turned his face to look at her, the sunset's golden glow illuminating his face and making his blue eyes seem like ice. He held her gaze before looking down at their clasped hands and holding them close to him for a moment.

Yuna closed the space between them and clasped him in a tight embrace, her hands splayed across the back of his sweatjacket and her face pressed against his chest. She felt his arms come fiercely about her, one of his gloved hands reaching up to cradle her head as his lips came gently onto her forehead, where he planted a soft kiss.

To her surprise, her eyes were dry as she voiced what she had wanted to keep safe inside her own private thoughts all her days.

"I'm frightened," she said almost inaudibly against his skin, weakening as she realized she had dropped her defenses completely; she'd admitted that she wasn't strong enough to accept her fate, as she had done so convincingly until this moment.

_Thoughts…floating up…slipping through my fingers…slipping away before I could pin them down with words._

Tidus stepped back suddenly from her, one hand still on her shoulder and the other curved about the back of her head and looked her straight in the eye.

"No, don't say that, Yuna. I promised you I'd find a way…and I will."

"But…there _is_ no way around it. They've been doing this for years…"

"No, Yuna. It's all wrong. Someone has to make it right."

She could find nothing to say to this, and slowly her gaze dropped from his eyes. Her long, pale fingers came to rest lightly on him, stroking his tanned skin gently and fingering the polished silver charm that hung about his neck, and his strong arms wrapped about her upper back to pull her close to him. Her forehead fell against him, and he gently let his chin rest upon the crown of her head, his eyes turning towards the setting sun.

_Maybe you are the dream who will end our dreaming at last…_

"How did you do it?" he said softly.

She sighed against his neck and pulled away, and smiled when his gloved fingers brushed her bangs from her eyes.

"Do what?"

"How did you come this far, knowing what would happen to you?"

Her gaze turned inward, to her deepest thoughts and guilts.

"I almost couldn't."

He looked at her comfortingly, his expression painted with care and concern.

_It's a much more wonderful feeling than anything I had ever imagined. Wonderful…but it hurts, sometimes. When I...when I think about us never being together again at all…I'm afraid._

"Until there was you."

His eyebrows turned upward and his face became sad, and he stroked his fingers along her cheek.

He was _so_ good

Smiling, she gave into him as he pressed his warm, soft lips against her own. Her eyes slowly slid shut as she fell against him and into his kiss, his arms holding her protectively.

One tear, not her own, ran across her skin, and she knew he felt it too.

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Well…yes. That's it. Short, but sweet. I LOVE REVIEWS!


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